A self-styled teacher who trained an “army of children” for terrorist attacks in London will be sentenced later.

Islamic State (IS) fanatic Umar Haque, 25, planned to use guns and a car packed with explosives to strike 30 high-profile targets including Big Ben, the Queen’s Guard and Westfield shopping centre.

He enlisted helpers at the Ripple Road mosque in Barking, east London, where he secretly groomed children as young as 11 through terrorism role play and exercises.

Umar Haque is facing jail for training an ‘army of children’ for terrorist attacks on 30 targets across London (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Haque also played IS propaganda to pupils at the fee-paying independent Muslim school Lantern of Knowledge in Leyton, where he taught Islamic studies and PE between April 2015 and January 2016, a court heard.

Even though he had no teaching qualifications, Haque had access to 250 youngsters at two east London schools and the Ripple Road madrassa over five years and attempted to radicalise 110 of them, police said.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Haque was found guilty of planning terror attacks with help from two conspirators.

On Haque’s “ambitious” plans, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon said: “His aim was to create an army of children to assist with more terrorist attacks throughout London.

“It was apparent he was in the early stages of this long-term attack plan at multiple sites using multiple weapons and assisted by children he had radicalised.

His handwritten hit list included the Queen’s Guard, courts, Transport for London, Shia Muslims, Westfield, City banks, Heathrow, Parliament, Big Ben, the media, embassies and the English Defence League or Britain First.

In the months before his arrest, he bragged about recruiting 16 children, telling Ripple Road youngsters he intended to die a martyr and IS was “good”.

One of the youngsters later told police: “Umar has been teaching us how to fight, do push-ups, given strength and within six years he was planning to do a big attack on London.

“He wants a group of 300 men. He’s training us now so by the time I’m in Year 10 (aged 14-15) we will be physically strong enough to fight.”